Toska
by Koshechka
Summary: In the corporate world every executive needs a secretary but the one that Seto Kaiba has been forced to have turns out to be someone far more interesting than he had originally thought. Kaiba has found himself wondering who she truly is or who she once was. Her appearance reminds him of someone he lost in the past and is reincarnated so they have a chance at love once more.
1. Chapter 1: Hardworking Secretary

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ it rightfully belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I only claim ownership of Kiara Katsuhiko and Lily Katsuhiko. The idea of this fanfiction was inspired from the manga _Midnight Secretary_.

**Chapter 1** - Hardworking Secretary

A knock resounded on the door, cobalt eyes never left the computer screen, another knock, the left eye twitched, and there was one more knock. The incessantly timed knocks caused more twitching of the left eye as they continued to focus on the computer screen in front of him. "What is it?!" came the voice of the male. It was more of a shout but the door opened to reveal one of the people from the outside staffing agency. "What do you want?" again the question was as cold as the cobalt eyes.

The man visibly gulped, "Mister Kaiba, the new secretary is here."

"I don't need a secretary."

"But sir!" Those cobalt eyes stared at the man, he shivered in spite of himself as he turned to face the young woman who was standing behind him. "I truly am sorry miss to have dragged you all the way from your other interviews. Perhaps we can try another building, there are plenty in Domino City."

A delicate voice stated confidently, "I'd like to show my worth before I'm thrown out like trash." At this Kaiba glared at the man who, once more, shivered involuntarily. The man was gently moved aside by a pale hand on his bicep, he moved aside with a slight blush on his face, and this prompted Kaiba to quirk an eyebrow at the man. In his view stepped a young woman with extremely pale blue hair pulled back into a braided bun, her face was delicate with pale pink lips, and the most vibrant shade of blue for eyes he had ever seen. The only thing off setting from her facial appearance were the glasses that she wore on her face, slim square lenses that seemed to only hide her natural beauty. She was wearing a dark gray knee length pencil skirt, a long sleeve white blouse, and a dark gray vest over the blouse. Once more her voice was full of confidence, "Allow today to be a trial run before you decide to be rid of me, sir."

A hand covered his lower face from view, hiding there was a smirk at her audacity, but it seemed that she was not going to be deterred. _Stubborn isn't she?_ Without missing a beat he replied, "Fine. Today is your trial run, if you're less than perfect then I'm throwing you out." She nodded, bowed to him, and left the room with the other man. Once the door was shut, Kaiba looked at the door, "This is going to be interesting." This time he openly smirked since there was no one else in the room.

However before he could continue his work in peace, the door was flung open, he looked up to see the young woman, she bowed to him, "My name is Kiara Katsuhiko, Mister Kaiba." With that she closed the door again which prompted him to give that arrogant smirk once more before turning back to his work at hand. _This is going to be very interesting indeed. Let's see what can I have her do first? Hmm...ah I know._ He pressed the buzzer on his desk, "Katsuhiko, there are binders on your desk. Go through them and make sure they match up with what's in the database left by the prior secretary. If nothing is there then input it by hand but I want it done within an hour."

There was no pause as she replied, "Yes sir." Kiara had been waiting for him to call her so once he gave her a task, she smiled to herself, pushed her glasses up on her nose, and began to go through the first binder. Inputting the data with the accuracy of a medical transcriptionist. Her blue eyes never left the binder pages and her fingers never left the keyboard unless it was to turn to the next page. Once the first binder was done, she immediately started on the next one, after all he had said he wanted it finished within the hour. "At least I can finally make use of this talent of mine. Mother was right, Kaiba Corps _is_ the company for me," she whispered to herself.

As the final binder was set aside, it was replaced into its proper slot, when she turned around there was an envelope in front of her. Kaiba was standing there looking down at her, "Katsuhiko make copies of this and distribute them to the names on the outside of this envelope. Do it as fast as you can." She nodded while giving him a smile and taking the envelope from him. As she left, her heels clacking on the ground, he noticed that the desk was absolutely clean, the binders organized, and everything in its place. "Hmm...she might actually be useful. She might be the _only_ one that's useful especially with documents relating to the second Kaiba World construction."

Minutes passed by as he continued to think about how useful she was going to be to his plans on the second Kaiba World. He was about to turn away when the very same envelope was placed in his path, his cobalt eyes traced it to the delicate face of his new secretary. "Originals and a copy are inside this envelope, the other copies were distributed personally to the people on the list. Is there anything else that you require of me at the moment sir?" That smile on her face, she was so full of herself and Kaiba took the envelope before disappearing into his office once more. His door was slammed shut which prompted her to chuckle, "Oh he's going to be a fun one indeed."

Hours passed and Kiara had done everything that her employer asked of her, it was nothing unusual that she could keep up with his demands, and presently she was drinking a vitamin supplement for energy since she could feel herself getting weak. _It doesn't help that I'm anemic and can't do much running around in the sun but this is just what I need to perk myself right up again. It's always helped me a great deal and having two in my bag is the best._ She didn't have anything to do so she had cleaned out all the drawers of the desk and made sure everything smelled fresh and clean. _Tomorrow I'm decorating this desk with blue roses so that it's a bit more cheerful in here._ She finished her liquid supplement, tossed it into the trash bin located under her desk, and was about to return to her computer but his cold voice came over the intercom.

"Katsuhiko call Roland and tell him to ready the limo in thirty minutes. There are some documents in your e-mail. Read them over." She nodded even though she hadn't affirmed his request, somehow she knew that he knew she would get it done. Once the call had been made, she immediately opened up the e-mail he had sent her and began reading it. Thirty minutes later he exited his room and looked down at her. "Get your things, you're coming with me." Without another word, she grabbed her messenger bag, put it on one shoulder, and followed after her employer. People dodged him in the halls, she watched as they all stared in disbelief at her, and it was then that she realized the employees were all afraid of him mainly because of the scowl he wore on his face. The elevator ride down was quiet, she had nothing to say to him, and he to her. Out in the lobby, however, that all changed as he said quietly, "We're going to a dinner with Duke Devlin and Maximillion Pegasus."

Blue eyes stared at him as they continued to walk through the lobby, "Why take me? I'm just a secretary on trial."

"Because you're competent and it may allow those two idiots to leave me alone long enough to conduct business. You're also going to be taking notes as well." His demeanor was gruff but Kiara couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her, his cobalt eyes glared at her as she turned her face away from him, despite the fact that she was a capable secretary, he had a feeling there was more to her than she was letting on. They approached the limo, Roland opened the door for them, Kaiba climbed in first, followed by Kiara, and the door was shut.

-::::::-

The private room was quiet with only the sound of the air conditioner being heard, it was unsettling, Kiara simply sipped at her water that was provided, while they waited for the arrival of their other two guests. Kaiba leaned over and whispered, "You know who they are right?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and replied just as quietly, "I read their individual files as well as their company files and any other information that would be relevant to tonight's discussion about using Kaiba Corps holo technology to be used in such a way that would allow Dungeon Dice Monsters to be produced holographically." As they took their respective spaces, he could only stare at her as she sipped her water once more. As if reading his mind she added, "I told you to allow me to prove my worth and I hope that I have been up to your expectations so far. Don't expect any less than perfection from me. As for the talk of taking notes, I have something far more technologically advanced." She reached into her bag, pulled out a slim silver device, and placed it on the table. Kaiba recognized it as a tape recorder, "Before you say anything, it's a digital one. Everything is stored on a memory card and it has the best clarity you can imagine."

The CEO of Kaiba Corps was impressed with his new secretary although he would never say anything or show any outward emotion of the sort. Before he could say anything, the two awaited guests arrived, before they sat, Kiara stood up. "Good evening gentlemen, my name is Kiara Katsuhiko and I am here in accordance with Mister Kaiba as his secretary. I do hope that you are not concerned that the coming conversation will be taped for the records."

One brown eye was happily shining at the greeting from the fair skinned maiden, "The pleasure is all mine Miss Katsuhiko. I do not mind if it is taped since that was Kaiba-boy's request." He took his own seat while the other male with greenish black hair and striking green eyes merely stared at her.

"Duke Devlin, pleased to meet you," he said in a smooth voice. He went to reach for her hand in order to kiss it but she made a quick tactic of turning to the side so that she could sit down once more. "Clever. I don't mind at all either." He took his own seat while Kiara waited for their waiter to jot down their own orders. While they looked at the menu, Duke asked, "So Kiara how long have you worked for Kaiba?"

"Please address me as _Miss_ Katsuhiko as I do not know you and this is a business dinner." Luckily the menu was hiding Kaiba's face as there was that involuntary smirk once more. But by her voice he could tell that she was smiling. One quick glance told him that she was while she had closed her menu and stared at Duke. "Mister Devlin I am well informed of your, ahem, _tactics_ towards those of the female genre whom you find attractive. The only problem lies in the fact that you are always after said female genre despite what they look like. So please address me properly next time and I have only worked for him today."

"Oh you are so polite and harsh at the same time, I really like that Miss Katsuhiko," replied Duke as he closed his menu. "Only today?" He looked at Kaiba who had closed his menu as well, "Do you plan on getting rid of her like the others Kaiba?"

"No," came his flat tone. Even though others would have been surprised by it, Kiara simply sipped her water, and looked at Pegasus who had been staring at her. "Katsuhiko is the best secretary I've seen employed at Kaiba Corps. She's an indispensible asset." The creator of Duel Monsters could tell that this made the younger woman happy but the light in her eyes.

Pegasus asked quietly, "Miss Katsuhiko, you are very intriguing."

"Thank you Mister Pegasus, it is an honor to be considered as such by someone of your eccentricity," she replied with a warm smile.

The creator grinned, "Oh yes, I do like you very much."

"And I like you for if not for you then there would be no Duel Monsters card game to play."

This sparked an interesting topic for everyone at the table as Pegasus asked, "You play?"

Kiara nodded, "I've played since I was a small child and always carry my deck with me. It would be a disgrace to call myself a fan and avid player if I did not carry my deck with me." Pegasus laughed heartily until the waiter arrived to take their orders upon which Pegasus said that ladies should order first. "Thank you, you are too kind. I would like to have the soup and salad. Soup being the cajun tofu chili and the salad would be the chopped chinese salad with no meat please. For dressing I'd like the orange ginger if you would." He nodded with a smile on his face and proceeded to jot down the rest of the orders. Once he left the others stared at her and she gave them all a questioning look.

"You could have ordered anything Miss Katsuhiko. Why did you order that?" asked Pegasus.

She gave a sincere smile, "Because I'm vegetarian." The looks she received from them only prompted her to chuckle quietly so she wouldn't disturb anyone else despite the fact that they were in a private room. "Don't be so shocked, I have my reasons that I'm unwilling to share at the moment. So please continue with this business proposal of holographically induced games of Dungeon Dice Monsters." At this she picked up the tape recorder and just as Kaiba was going to start talking about it, she hit the record button. Pegasus only watched in fascination as she kept silent, listening to everything that went on between Duke and Seto, and she even sipped her water quietly.

The dinner progressed smoothly until it was time to leave, Kiara stopped the tape recorder, packed it into her messenger bag, and put it over one shoulder. She looked at the other two men and bowed to them, "It was a pleasure to meet you Mister Pegasus, Mister Devlin." Duke grinned and Pegasus merely inclined his head to her.

"It would be far more nice to see you at the Charity Ball that Industrial Illusions will be holding in a few months," replied Pegasus. At this Kaiba only huffed in annoyance but Kiara had said that only time will tell if they would be able to attend. "You are too polite my dear. Please keep in touch Kaiba-boy! I look forward to working with Kaiba Corps and you once more Miss Katsuhiko." She nodded while Duke had said something similar before they parted ways. Kiara followed after Kaiba and Duke was standing next to Pegasus. "Ah, they make a cute pair."

"I hope you mean a _business_ pair because I'm going after her."

"We'll see what I mean in time Dukey-boy. Let's go for now."

Meanwhile Kaiba sat in the limo with Kiara, "Did you get everything from the office?" Kiara nodded to him but gave him that questioning look once more. "Then tell Roland your home address, you can start working on the tape recording tomorrow morning. Keep it safe." She nodded once more while scooting forward on the seat to tell Roland where she lived. There was more silence until they arrived at her desired location.

"Thank you for the evening meal Mister Kaiba. Have a good night and I shall see you in the morning," she said to him before getting out of the limo. Roland had closed the door and Kaiba could hear her, "Thank you so much Roland. You didn't have to do this for me. Please take care on the drive home there is supposed to be a freak thunderstorm." He responded to her politely as she began to walk away from the limo, Kaiba rolled down the window to see where she lived. It was a condo complex that only had three stories, he watched as she dug out her key card, and entered the pedestrian gate before rolling up the window.

-::::::-

Tired cobalt eyes stared at the cup of coffee that was placed in front of him, they traveled to the young woman with pale blue hair and sapphire eyes. There was a smile on that delicate face, he took the cup from her, and stomped into his office. The door slammed shut once more, she looked at the other employees who happened to see the exchange, she gave them a heartwarming smile before returning to her work at hand which was transcribing the tape recording from the prior night. Once it was finished she printed it, picked it up, and placed it in the proper folder while e-mailing a copy to Kaiba.

"Katsuhiko, there are some important documents in the research department. Retrieve them for me."

"Right away sir." She left it at that while taking the copy of the printed documents of the talk from the last night. Heels clicked against the floor as she made her way into the elevator, once her index finger hit the proper button, she watched as the doors closed. It was a matter of minutes before she arrived on the floor. Once there her blue eyes found the person she was looking for, picked up the documents, and proceeded to return to her floor. The doors opened, she stepped out, and immediately felt a presence behind her. Kiara turned around only to be pushed against the wall by an employee she had no name for. "What can I help you with? I'm very busy."

His voice was low and raspy, "You're a pretty one aren't you? But a bit of a prude. Always wearing those long skirts and long sleeves. Anything to cover up but I know better."

At this Kiara huffed, brought up the two envelopes, and smacked him on the top of his head. He blinked a few times, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm here to do my job for Mister Kaiba, I have no intentions of betraying the trust that he's put in me by even _considering_ a thing like you." She shoved him backwards with strength that he didn't know she had. "Please excuse me." Kiara immediately left as quickly as she could, she only paused by her secretarial desk momentarily to retrieve a small aerosol bottle. The man pinned her against the wall once more, she huffed once more, and brought up the small can before he knew what had happened, she pressed down on the button.

The man screamed in agony as the mace burned his face, she turned around, knocked on the door, and entered when she was told to come in. Kiara closed the door behind her, approached Kaiba, and set the documents on his desk. "Here you are sir, documents as requested along with a paper copy of the meeting last night."

"What's in your hand?"

"Mace."

"Why do you have mace in your hand?"

"One of your employees was sexually harassing me so I took matters into my own hands," she replied truthfully. At this she noticed that he became very angry, something she didn't think he would do considering it was just one employee.

"Where is he?" His voice was dark as she pointed to his door, he left his desk, and stormed out of his office. Kaiba glared at the man who was writhing in pain on the ground. "You're fired. Security will gather your things and drop them off at the hospital along with you." He was about to call the security team himself until he noticed that they had just exited the elevator. Kaiba looked over his shoulder at Kiara to see that she had placed his phone back into the cradle. The CEO approached her, "You called them?"

"I had a feeling you would do that to him so it was preemptive."

"What if I didn't do that to him? Then you would have called for nothing."

There was a gleam in her eye as she pushed her glasses up on her nose, "Mister Kaiba when applying for a secretarial job in any company, one should _always_ do their research on the company. Searching for the employee history is just one of many items to take into consideration." She smiled at him, excused herself, closed the door for him, and returned to her desk outside now that it was quiet once more. The mace was replaced into her drawer but what she didn't know was that her employer held a hand over his face to hide the smirk that appeared there. This woman was definitely interesting to the CEO of Kaiba Corps. When he took his seat once more, he immediately began doing research on her.

Silence befell the employees after the fiasco with the man, Kiara was silently typing away on the computer, doing some transcribing for her employer, and she paused. Blue eyes looked up at the people in front of her, they eyed her warily, and she couldn't help but let out a sigh. "I was only protecting myself," she muttered before feeling a dizzy spell come over her. A hand was placed on her head as she reached for her bag, the flap was tossed open, the zipper pulled open, Kiara pulled out a supplement, and flipped the flap closed once more before zipping it shut. Once the cap had been turned open, she immediately set to drinking a quarter of it before returning to her work at hand.

Kiara had a feeling that Kaiba was going to come out of his office soon so she finished off her drink, tossed the bottle in the bin under her desk, and heard the door knob turn. He emerged and looked down at her, "I've finished the work you requested. Is there anything else to do?"

"No you can go home."

She gathered her bag and bowed to the CEO, "Then have a good night Mister Kaiba." She pushed her chair in and left the office while the other employees hurriedly gathered their items as well. While waiting by the elevator, she saw the horde of people of coming, and decided that it would be best to wait in the stairwell. Just as she ducked inside, the door shut, and she tried to open it but realized that it was a one way fire escape. Kiara sighed, removed her shoes, and began to descend the stairs at a reasonable pace so as not to harm her feet.

Once the woman had reached the bottom of the stairs, she slipped her shoes back on, exited the stairwell, and headed through the lobby doors. Saying good night to those who had greeted her first with it but once outside, she took in a deep breath, and winced. Her feet hurt slightly and she knew that she would have to soak them and treat them before going to bed.

-::::::-

Feet were lifted from the warm salt water, once they were dry, aloe socks were slipped over them, and she flopped onto her bed. She knew that her mother was out working the late shift again so she made sure to make plenty of food for her when she returned home. Her eyes wandered to the glasses on her bedside table, she sighed, and crawled under the sheets, wondering if she would ever get to see her mother awake during the daylight hours. Her eyes slipped closed to the beating rhythm of the rain that had begun to fall outside. It was her lullaby until it eased off into the early morning hours when the gray clouds dispersed to reveal the morning sky.

Kiara sighed as she sat at her desk at Kaiba Corps, she was typing once more but the rainy weather had her down, it was bad enough that her mother was sleeping when she awoke, and now her beautifully pinned hair had begun to curl due to the humidity. Pieces were beginning to poke out everywhere from her braided bun. Another sigh escaped her and she muttered something unintelligible under her breath, despite her current demeanor she was still as swift as ever as Seto Kaiba's private secretary.

"Why do you keep sighing like that?"

That particular voice was one that she was never going to forget, her eyes never left the papers that were she was typing up. "Because the humidity in the air is making my hair curl and it feels depressing." It was a straight forward answer and one that the CEO didn't think she would give but he noticed that her smiling face was still ever present, even with the depressed air she held around her. Once he retreated back into his office, she sighed once more, and pulled out her supplement. She drank it within a few minutes before tossing the bottle into the trash bin. Her typing soon ceased as she had finished with it, placed everything in a neat stack, and headed into Kaiba's office. When his cobalt eyes looked up at her, she had already placed the items on his desk, "Here you are sir. Everything completed and up to date as you requested." She turned on her heel and it was then that Kaiba noticed her bun was a mess with various pieces of hair sticking out here and there.

"Katsuhiko." She looked over her shoulder at him, "Fix your hair. It's untidy." Kiara smiled warmly at him, nodded, and left the room by gently closing his door. Once more Seto turned to the information he had on hand of her from human resources. "Hmmm...interesting. Only lives with her mother, father abandoned them when she was ten, and her mother actually works as a..." His eyes grew astonished, "..maid. How intriguing." He quickly looked up the place that her mother worked at, memorized the address, and made a mental note to visit sometime.

In the meantime, Kiara was in the ladies restroom, her hair was down, and she was in the process of braiding it once more. Other employees had come and gone while she was in the process since her hair was down to her lower back. _Sometimes it's such a hassle but mother does so love to brush it when we're home together._ She was smiling as other secretaries entered, one of which stopped to stare at her long hair.

"Kiara, you hair is so beautiful!"

"Ah thank you. I take very good care of it but no matter how much care I give it, the rain just seems to over write all that."

The woman laughed, "I understand how you feel. My hair is the _exact_ same way! That's why I keep it short but you can see it's still curling."

Blue eyes looked over at it and she laughed, "I see! But having naturally wavy hair really doesn't help either. And that's why I'm here redoing all this. Mine has a tendency to stick out in all sorts of ways." The two women laughed before the other woman had to leave and Kiara nodded to her. Once the braid was finished, she wrapped it up on top of her head, and secured it in place once more. "There all done and smooth." She left the washroom, returned to her desk to find a pile of papers, and she only smiled at it. Kiara immediately sat down and began to do the work left for her. As the day progressed, Kiara had finished all of the work required of her, she opened the door to Kaiba's office, and stated, "I have finished for the day. If there is anything else?" He shook his head while she nodded, "Then I shall be leaving. Don't stay too late." Kiara closed the door before turning around and gathering her items.

The moment that she left, Kaiba immediately began to pack his things, he wanted to see her mother, and her place of work. So he called for Roland, the limo would be waiting downstairs, the CEO grabbed his laptop, placed it in its bag, and headed out of his office. The moment that he reached the limo, he got in, and Roland began to drive to the afore mentioned location.


	2. Chapter 2: Under the Smiling Surface

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ it rightfully belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I only claim ownership of Kiara Katsuhiko and Lily Katsuhiko. The idea of this fanfiction was inspired from the manga _Midnight Secretary_.

**Chapter 2** - Underneath the Smiling Surface

It appeared to be a typical restaurant from the exterior, but the CEO of Kaiba Corps knew better, he had done his research, and this place was a maid cafe. The place where Kiara's mother was employed and he simply wanted to get a better idea of what she was like however he was reticent about entering such an establishment and he knew that he would be the gossip of Domino if any journalists were around to see him enter such a place. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head before the familiar voice of Roland intruded upon his thoughts, "I could go in your stead sir." He ran a hand through his brown hair and nodded, Roland parked the limo, and left.

"What am I doing here?" he asked himself. Kaiba could feel exhaustion take over as his eyes slid closed and sleep took him to a memory that he had wished he never saw. He watched as a pale woman's body was held in his arms in front of the stone tablet that held the Blue Eyes White Dragon. He mourned the loss of the pale skinned beauty, he couldn't hear what was said, but he had never wished to see this again. Cobalt eyes snapped open as he realized that the limo was moving. He looked up to see Roland in the driver's seat, "Was I out long?" The man shook his head as he put up the partition and the CEO leaned back against the leather seat. He sighed as he looked outside the window, "Somehow I wish I never saw that all those years ago." It occurred to him that Roland had left the cafe so he put down the partition and asked, "How was it?"

Roland continued to drive as he replied, "Interesting. They are all waitresses but take on the role of your private maid, going as far as blowing on your food, stirring your coffee, and feeding you. Of course those are all extra services. I had her mother wait on me." Kaiba moved his gaze from outside the window to Roland. "She was very adept at what she does. Almost as if she's been a true English maid before. Miss Katsuhiko looks just like her mother." He proceeded to tell him of what he had eavesdropped on about Kiara's mother. "Ah, might I add that her mother's name is Lily." Kaiba nodded to Roland's information.

"I see. Well I'll keep this to myself then. Thanks, Roland." The man only nodded as the partition was put back into place and the limo was driven towards the mansion.

-::::::-

Months had passed since Kiara's trial run, she was sitting at her desk typing up documents for her employer, and her mind strayed to her mother. She had been working extra shifts because of some strange virus that was going around. _I hope that mother will be alright. Maybe I should call her on my break and see if she's alright_. The thought was persistent and when she had finished the documents, she put them in their proper place just as Kaiba exited his office. Her sapphire eyes looked up into his cobalt ones.

_Her eyes are as dazzling as ever._ "Katsuhiko let's go." She nodded, instinctively she had grabbed her things, and he watched as she shut her computer down for the time being and made some last arrangements. Once completed they went on their way, Kiara had gotten used to the scowl he wore on his face as well as the way people avoided him or kept their eyes down. She chuckled, "Something funny Katsuhiko?"

"Just how everyone seems to act so menial in front of you, sir."

"That's because I'm their boss and I don't tolerate anything other than perfection."

"I understand."

"So that's why you laughed? Because I like to keep my company professional?"

They entered the elevator, she was the one that pushed the lobby button, and she looked up at him over the rims of her glasses. "I find it funny that even the most hardworking perfect people here, whether in the research department or security, still act like they are peasants compared to you."

"They _are _peasants compared to me."

At this she laughed again, Kaiba quirked an eyebrow at her, "Well I don't think I'm a peasant in your presence."

"Oh?" _This is getting interesting. She's been here for many months and this is the most that she's spoken to me but that could be because we're alone._ "Why is that? What do you think of yourself?"

At this she gave a furtive smile and winked at him, "It's a secret." Kaiba would have gawked at her if he allowed himself some semblance of emotion in front of his employees but instead allowed her to have her fun. The woman turned to face the elevator doors once more, there was silence between the two with her calm aura and his agitated one. She could tell that he was getting more agitated by the minute, when she went to ask him if he was alright, he pushed her against the wall of the elevator. "Mister Kaiba?"

"What gives you the right to toy with me?" came his hoarse whisper.

Her voice came out velvety smooth, "I am simply doing my job as a secretary and that implies caring for the health of my employer as well. Bottling up emotions will only be a detriment to your health."

"Are you still not going to tell me?" She gave an innocent smile which made him back off, he watched out of the corner of his eye as she pushed up her glasses, and stepped out of the elevator the moment that it opened its doors. _So she didn't get flustered at all? _It was then that he noticed she was waiting for him, he followed after her but it soon turned into her following him as they walked out of Kaiba Corps, and down the sidewalk. "We're going to a cafe for lunch."

Once they arrived, she took her seat across from him and asked, "Are we to be expecting any one?"

"No." She tilted her head to the side in curiosity, much the same way an animal would. "I didn't want you to be with those other secretaries." Once more that head tilt, "They've been bullying you."

The sound that came out of her was laughter, genuine laughter, and Kaiba looked at her with his emotionless eyes. "I wouldn't call it bullying. I can handle myself. It's more like they were insulting you and I defended you that's all. Nothing's gotten physical, I believe they're all too afraid of getting their faces discolored." Kaiba quirked an eyebrow at her, "This works out perfectly well anyway. I didn't get a chance to pack a lunch today." He nodded as menus were placed in front of them but he watched as she pulled out a bottle from her bag.

"What is that?"

"A vitamin supplement." He nodded as he looked at the menu while he glanced up at her as she opened her bottle and drank a little bit at a time from it. Once she found what she wanted, she closed the menu, and pushed it aside. Kaiba did the same as they looked at one another, "I'm anemic." He nodded his head as if that answered all of his unasked questions about her. They both had ordered, she put the empty bottle back in her purse while looking at him, "Can I make a phone call?" Her employer nodded as she pulled out a slim cellular phone from her bag. She dialed a number quickly before she placed the handset to her ear. Her eyes drifted to the table and a defeated sigh came from her mouth because the other person had not picked up. "Call me back as soon as you can okay mother," she hung up and put it away. Her sapphire eyes looked at the cobalt ones of her employer.

"What's wrong?"

"She's been picking up extra shifts because there's some kind of virus going around. I don't want her to catch it." Kaiba simply nodded as their food arrived, both of them ate in silence, having nothing to talk about, and nothing to share. Inside, Seto Kaiba was glad that he had kept her around because she made eating lunch less lonely but still peaceful. He watched as the worry for her mother was completely hidden while she ate her food. Once they were finished, Kaiba paid the bill, left an extravagant tip, and the pair headed back to the office; once more in silence.

They had only gotten a few blocks when he noticed that Kiara had stopped, she looked around, and visibly sniffed the air. When he looked at her she scrunched her nose in disgust, the way a rabbit would do, and looked around more carefully. "I smell strong, horrid perfume permeating from somewhere." Kaiba watched as her nose returned to normal. There was a high pitched yell from behind Kiara and before the CEO could act on it, his secretary had already spread her legs, bent forward, and he only watched as the girl went sailing over her intended target. Kiara straightened back up, smoothed out her clothing, and stared with her sapphire eyes at the girl in the bushes. Her heels clacked on the ground as she approached the woman, there was squeal of surprise when Kiara's hand touched her back. Once the girl had been helped out of the bushes, she immediately tried to dart to Kaiba but Kiara moved swiftly to block her path.

"Out of my way! That's Seto Kaiba!"

Even though the CEO couldn't see her face, he could tell that his secretary was glaring at the young girl just by the way she began to back away. Her voice was stern, "I suggest that you leave and return to whence you came." The authoritative tone in the gentle secretary's voice had surprised Kaiba but he held that emotion from his visage. The girl began to back away slowly so Kiara moved forward quickly which startled the girl so much that she began to run away. Yet when she faced her employer there was nothing but a kind smile, "Shall we?" He nodded and they resumed their walk back to the office in silence with Kiara smiling to herself and Kaiba taking furtive glances at the strange woman who had told him to try her out for a day.

_She is definitely a strange one. There is something going on under that smiling surface of hers that she's hiding or she doesn't want others to know about. Is it really that disturbing or is she just that good at hiding her emotions like me?_ The thoughts turned into a never ending circle as they sauntered back to the building. _How does she act at home? Does she act like the smiling secretary, the intimidating woman, or someone else altogether? How does she act in front of her mother?_ Once more they circled around his mind and without any answers they continued their relentless loop. He knew he had to break the thought process so he asked, "When is Industrial Illusions' charity ball?"

"It is slated for next Friday at seven in the evening. Shall I inform them that you will be attending?"

"Yeah when we get back to the office."

"Very well."

"But tell them I'll be bringing a guest."

"Understood. Who is the guest that I shall tell them?"

"Kiara Katsuhiko."

"Under-" she balked on her words but not her feet. Her face looked up at him over the rims of her glasses as if to judge him to see if he were telling a joke. "Surely you jest sir." Kaiba shook his head, at this point she had stopped walking, still staring into his cobalt eyes with her dazzling sapphire ones. "Hmm. I will do some adjustment to my schedule so that I am free for that evening to accompany you. Shall I prepare any documenting supplies?" He shook his head once more, this time she seemed to stare straight into his soul, "Very well." At this Kaiba let a half smirk slide onto his face briefly before it disappeared. They resumed their walk, "So Mister Kaiba can smirk as well as scowl."

This time it was his turn to balk as he looked down at her. She only gave him that innocent smile while continuing forward, he caught up to her with his longer stride. "You would do well to voice certain items of interest and when not to voice said items." He received a chuckle from her, "I trust that you have some formal attire." She nodded, "Good. I'll pick you up at six so don't be late."

"I won't be." He put up his hand to hide the smirk on his face, to others it seemed that he was thinking about something but his secretary seemed to know better as she glanced at him and smiled.

-::::::-

The evening of the party had finally arrived and Kiara was already pulling some of her hair into a half bun, held it with a blue lily clip while the rest cascaded down her back, and some parts fell over her shoulders in waves. "Always so curly, must be from the other side." There wasn't much for her to do at the moment except put on her make up, which she completed since it was nearing the pick up time. Once finished she left a note for her mother on the table, dinner was already in the refrigerator, and she had but to heat it up. So she scuttled around the apartment even though the dress just covered the tops of her feet, she wanted to make sure that she didn't trip on her gown. Once her hair had been fixed, she grabbed her small evening purse, it had a white strap attached to a dark blue satin purse. Kiara slipped her feet into her two inch white toe covered heels. At that very moment, there was a knock on her door, she opened it up to see Seto Kaiba standing there. "Just a moment," she said while disappearing to grab a satin white shawl. The secretary wrapped it around her shoulders, draped the excess over her arms, and stepped outside. She shut off the lights and closed the door. Once it was locked, she put the key away, and nodded to him.

It was then that he noticed she didn't have her glasses, "No frames today?"

"I wear contacts when I must," followed by that innocent smile of hers. He simply grumbled something unintelligible as she followed after him. However she noticed that he was wearing a white suit with a blue under shirt and a dark blue tie. She, on the other hand, was actually wearing a strapless deep blue evening gown, embellished with white french lace, which carried down to just below her bustline. _We sort of match tonight. How peculiar._ Roland was holding the door open for Kaiba but he made a motion for her to get in first, she nodded, scooted in, and was soon followed by her employer. The ride started in silence but she looked over at him, their eyes met, "We match this evening, in a way."

It was then that he took notice of her gown, her hair, the makeup, how her lips were of a coral pink color that tried to lure him into their embrace. _Everything about her is exotic tonight, even her curly hair...wait a minute...did she curl her hair?_ "Did you curl your hair for the event?"

"No sir. It's naturally wavy like this."

"Stay close to my side tonight." Sapphire eyes continued to stare at him until she nodded and looked away, he gave an imperceptible sigh of relief, sometimes those eyes were dazzling with the glasses, and tonight they were just gorgeous to Kaiba. They stood out against her pale skin but the fact was that those eyes seemed to belong to someone else as well, not to mention that her name was familiar. He put a hand on his chin as he stared out at the city lights, _Kiara, Kisara, Kiara, Kisara. Both had light blue hair and both have those deep blue eyes. Except Kiara has wavy hair while Kisara had straight hair but that doesn't really mean anything. There's no way that it can be the same person, they're completely different but in a way..they resemble one another._ The thought circled around until he pushed it out of his mind, he took a furtive glance at his secretary, and she was entranced with the city lights. "You have never been down this way."

It was a statement but Kiara still responded, "No, never. It's quite breath taking."

"Yeah, it is." He quickly turned away before she could look at him, he could _feel_ those sapphire eyes on him for a brief moment before she turned to look out at the lights once more. It seemed a longer ride than usual but Kiara knew they had arrived the moment that she saw all the flashing lights from the paparazzi.

"Does this mean they will spread rumors?" Her gaze turned to look at her employer, he nodded.

"But I doubt they'll be able to find you outside of this event."

Kiara chuckled, "I suppose they won't find me. So does this mean I get to be Seto Kaiba's companion instead of Seto Kaiba's secretary?" She quirked an eyebrow at him while he gruffly got out of the limo once the door was opened by Roland. Kiara chuckled at his demeanor, when Roland put his hand out for her, she took it firmly, and he smiled at her. "Thank you, Roland. I'll try to make sure he has some fun." Roland nodded before getting in the limo once more. It was then that she noticed Kaiba had been waiting for her, he didn't link his arm in hers nor did he hold her hand. It truly did seem that she was there simply as an escort. Kiara didn't even bother with it, the flashes seemed to have stopped momentarily, and the CEO took notice. They had stopped because Kiara had walked into a spotlight, he knew that it would have blinded her but she simply smiled at everyone present, and continued to walk with the grace that she exuberated. To the onlookers, it appeared as if a pale skinned blue haired angel had set foot onto the red carpet. She reached the top of the stairs, her gaze looked over her shoulder at Kaiba, he hurriedly caught up to her, and with that the flashes started once more as another guest arrived.

"Too much publicity at these events but you did seem to stop them. Can you see?" It was then that he noticed her hand had snaked its way onto his upper arm. There were no words needed between the two as he guided her around until her sight could return. "How did you see the stairs?"

She chuckled, "I used the toe of my shoe to tap it gently." Kaiba pulled up a hand to hide the smirk on his face. It took the pair a few minutes to reach the buffet line, by then her sight had returned to normal. "Of course my sight returns once I'm in front of food." Kaiba pulled up a hand once more before the pair each took a plate. Kaiba watched as her eyes glanced at certain dishes, apparently there was some vegetarian food.

Once they each had their plate full, the pair took a seat at a table that was on the far side of the room. She looked at him, "As far away from the idiots and vampires as possible."

"Correct." He was about to eat his food until what she said registered in his mind. Cobalt eyes looked at the woman next to him and he could see that she shared his sentiment. "I thought this evening would be a disaster but it doesn't seem to be turning out that way."

"I wouldn't say that just yet. I think Mister Devlin spotted us from all the way across the other side of the room. Mister Kaiba you stand out far too much." It was clear that she had made a joke and, what was worse, Seto Kaiba _actually_ wanted to laugh at it. Instead he decided to start eating his food. He watched her as she began to munch on some sort of mysterious grain. She looked, had some on her fork, and offered it to him. "Try some. It's quinoa." He decided that it would be worth and took the bite from the fork.

"Not bad." She smiled at him while continuing to eat her food. It was then that the waiter came by to offer them something to drink. "I'll take...hmm..merlot is for Pegasus and I don't want what he drinks."

Kiara smiled at the waiter which caused the young man to blush, "Please give us two glasses of pinot grigio." The male nodded and left to get their glasses. She looked at Kaiba, "Red wine is good for your heart but for this evening pinot grigio will do. There are other red wines like cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, and shiraz."

"How do you know about wine?"

"During high school and college years I worked in restaurants in order to pay for the classes."

"What kind of restaurants?"

"Oh, all kinds. Curry restaurants, Italian, French, Indian, and maid cafes."

Kaiba balked on his food, "_Maid cafes_?"

She nodded, "Despite what you may think, those are very lucrative for maids." He was silent and he noticed a devious gleam in her eye, "Would you like me to show you my skills?" The CEO would have said yes but decided against it and this made her chuckle. She leaned in to whisper, "Before Dungeon Diceman gets here, the offer stays on the table." Kiara winked at him just as Duke arrived along with their glasses of wine. She took a sip of the wine and nodded to the waiter, he was pleased, and left them while Duke took a seat next to Kiara who immediately moved closer to Kaiba.

"Miss Katsuhiko what a lovely surprise. I must say it is lovely to have you here," he said smoothly. For some reason or other, Kaiba had to refrain from biting down on his fork. "I see that you are here to work for Kaiba."

"On the contrary, I was invited here as _Mister Kaiba's guest_ so if you would please refrain from any flirtatious movements, I would greatly appreciate it." Kaiba wanted to smirk but hid it from those present with the exception of Kiara, she seemed to be a very observant person.

"I won't stop unless you allow me one dance."

Kiara was about to protest until the voice of Pegasus intervened, "I'm so sorry Dukey-boy but when she was making the reservation we had discussed that she and I would have the first dance together." She looked over at him and nodded with a smile. All too willing to play along right now and Kaiba could see that she truly detested being around Duke Devlin. "Come my dear, I'm sure you know how to waltz." Kiara excused herself from the table, she made sure to give her purse to Kaiba for safe keeping, and headed off with Pegasus to the dance floor.

The strings began and she immediately fell into step with the creator of Duel Monsters, she smiled up at him, "Thank you. I owe you one Mister Pegasus."

"Don't mention it. I'm glad to have helped because you seemed on the verge of saying something that may ruin Kaiba-boy."

"Oh I would never do such a thing!" She winked at Pegasus and this caused him to laugh as they danced around with the others. "This is such a lovely charity ball. Can you tell me which charity?"

"It's for orphans."

Her face softened, "How sweet."

"Mmhm. I thought it was time that the orphans received some press."

She chuckled, "You have a good heart Mister Pegasus."

"So do you Katsuhiko-dear. Can I call you that?" She nodded while he continued, "I must say that you look very exquisite this evening."

"Why thank you kind sir so do you but you always look good in red."

The two of them laughed as they danced around the floor, while Kaiba sat there with Duke and watched. He was fuming on the inside even if his outward visage was stoic. _Pegasus is dancing with __**my**__ secretary while I'm stuck here with Duke! This is uncalled for! Why didn't I ask her? Oh because that would raise some suspicion._ At this point in time, Kaiba was berating himself mentally for letting Pegasus have the first dance but there was really nothing for him to do about it now. Cobalt irises watched as green orbs were directed his way and he sighed. "What do you want Duke?"

"I was just wondering where you found such a beautiful trophy."

"The outside staffing agency..." His voice trailed off as he stared at Duke. "Excuse me, did you just say _trophy?_" He nodded with a smirk and Kaiba growled, "She's not something you put on display, she's a very capable secretary."

He made a motion with his hand, "Hence a trophy. An executive secretary is the face of a company, that's why I only have beautiful women around me."

"Are they competent?"

"Hmm, not really but they get the job done."

"I prefer intelligence to beauty."

"Ah but this one seems to have both so I think you've found a perfect trophy to display for Kaiba Corps." Once more he ground his teeth together as the waltz ended, he watched as Kiara curtsied to Pegasus in thanks while he bowed to her. The pair began to make their way back to the table where Kaiba stood up with her purse. He intercepted her and glanced at Pegasus momentarily before whispering something in her ear. She nodded to him and excused herself from the company of the creator of Duel Monsters. The silver haired man sat down and looked at Duke. "What? I didn't do anything."

"You said something that upset him didn't you?"

"I guess."

"What was it?"

"I called his secretary a trophy."

Pegasus sighed, "You shouldn't have done that. If you want your game to be holographically produced you need to be careful with Kaiba-boy. You could ruin everything so far if you're not careful."

"I'm fine. He'll still do it because it's new and will bring more revenue to Kaiba Corps."

"That may be true but don't think that he won't cut you loose because he will." Duke simply nodded while he watched the pair disappear to the other side of the room where the desert table was being held. "Why is he so protective of her? Is she really that valuable to him? Is that all he sees her as?" His green eyes looked over at Pegasus who held a knowing smile. "You know something, why don't you tell me?"

"I cannot Dukey-boy. So sorry but that's a need to know basis and you don't need to know." Duke gave an exasperated sigh as Pegasus laughed and was handed a glass of red wine. He sipped at it and grinned to himself. _How lovely. Everything is as it should be...well...maybe not everything but so far everything is perfect._

In the meantime she watched as Kaiba had lead her around by her wrist, he didn't particularly hold her wrist roughly but she could tell that he was angry. Once they found a table on the far side of the room, hidden behind the veil of dancers, he flopped into the seat, and rubbed his temples. "Something bothering you?" came her question. He simply shook his head and she stood up from her chair, she moved behind him, and placed her hands on his shoulder muscles. He looked at her, "Relax. You're so tense." Kiara moved her hands in gentle but firm circles to ease the tension on his upper back. He let out a sigh, "See? Now you're feeling better. You're so tense all the time Mister Kaiba, you can't take everything that people say to heart especially someone like Mister Devlin."

"I have a company to run and he made remarks about it that I didn't approve of."

"I see."

He sighed, "You're really good at this."

"Thank you. I've had some formal training only to help my mother out when she needed it. It's rough being your feet for eight plus hours in a row. Sometimes all you need is a good massage to ease all those tense muscles." Kaiba sighed again and allowed himself to feel relaxed for the time being, her fingers worked gently on his shoulders, careful of his expensive suit, and she only did it for a few minutes before taking a seat next to him. "Feel better?"

Cobalt irises looked into sapphire orbs, "You're an excellent secretary."

"That's all I've ever wanted to be." Kaiba stared at her, once more that was a joke, and she could clearly see that he wanted to laugh at it but instead he put up a hand to hide the smile that was on his face. "You can always laugh in your office, the limo, or some place else that you're alone. Or you can laugh here. It won't be a detriment to your company but I suppose that if the CEO of Kaiba Corps suddenly burst out laughing in a party like this then that would be cause for some concern, especially the tabloids." Underneath that hand he bit his lip as she continued, "The headline would read: CEO OF KAIBA CORPS LETS OUT LAUGHTER FOR UNKNOWN REASON AT CHARITY BALL! Well maybe it would be a lot shorter to fit on the small pages and maybe accompanied by a picture." She grinned at him as he held in that laughter, "See, you're feeling better already."

A waiter came by to offer them something to drink and this time Kaiba answered him, "Two glasses of champagne." He nodded and left to retrieve the wanted glasses, he reappeared quickly, placed them on the table, and left. Kaiba handed one to her, "Just drink it and be quiet." Kiara only smiled at him, she sipped her bubbly alcohol and kept silent as she had been told but that didn't keep her mind from wandering to other people in the room. There were a lot of corporate people present and she recognized some from the meetings she had arranged with Kaiba Corps. Seto was about to say something but decided against it, it was just nice to even sit with her. _For once someone who doesn't talk incessantly about needless things and she's capable so that makes her indispensible. But what about other matters outside of work?_


	3. Chapter 3: Some Things Cannot be Unseen

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ it righfuly belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I only claim ownership of Kiara Katsuhiko and Lily Katsuhiko. The idea of this fanfiction was inspired from the manga _Midnight Secretary_.

**Chapter 3** - Some Things Cannot be Unseen

Many more months had passed and Kaiba had grown used to seeing the cup of beige coffee in front of him however, this time, the cup was different. It was dark blue with a hand painted Blue Eyes White Dragon on it and the delicate hand that held it out for him was none other than the only executive secretary to have lasted so long under Seto Kaiba. Sparkling sapphires twinkled at him as she held the cup out for him, he took it from her, opened his door, and paused as the aroma filled his nostrils. He turned to look at her as if to ask her something but she had already started speaking.

"Good morning Mister Kaiba. This mug was specially made for you as was the coffee. It is my secret recipe for mornings. Please enjoy it," she said with a bow. Once Kaiba entered the room, he shut the door, and she took her seat. It was only then did she realize he had closed the door instead of slamming it. "Oh this is new. Maybe he's finally realized that I'm not worthless or maybe it's something else." She put a hand on her chin in thought but soon relinquished her mind to the tasks at hand, Kiara had already noticed the memo on her desk; it was about getting contracts together for the coming meeting in the afternoon. "Hmmm...something's missing from this paperwork." She ruffled the papers gently and noticed that a particular sheet about expenses was missing. "I'll have to get it from accounting." Kiara picked up the phone, dialed the number, and waited as the other person picked up. "Hello, this is Kiara Katsuhiko calling for Mister Seto Kaiba. Yes, there's a paper for expenses missing from the Dungeon Dice Monsters and Industrial Illusions contract." She listened and nodded, "Yes. No need to fax it over. I'll head down there and pick it up myself. I'll see you in ten to fifteen minutes. Uh-huh, thank you very much!" Kiara gathered up the necessary papers, put them in the folder, and knocked on Kaiba's door.

She entered and he continued to click on the keyboard with one hand while the other held his cup of coffee. "What is it Katsuhiko?"

"I have to run down to accounting for a few minutes to pick up a missing sheet. Feel free to call me on my cell if you need anything." He nodded to her as she left, once the door closed, he put down the coffee, it was already half gone, and he brought up her company file. In the meantime, Kiara had reached the accounting office, the receptionist had the documents ready for her. She looked them over and nodded with a smile, "Thank you very much. I appreciate this!"

The woman replied with a smile, "Any time." Kiara nodded once more to the woman as she left with everything in order. The elevator ride was smooth, she had no mishaps until she reached one floor below her destination. Lights flickered out before reappearing and her brow knit in concern, she took in a deep breath, and was about to calm herself until her phone rang. She jumped and nearly lost the documents, Kiara took in a deep breath, smoothed out her clothes, and pulled the cellular phone from the pocket in her vest.

"Kiara."

"Katsuhiko, where are you?"

"It seems that I'm stuck in the north elevator in between your floor and the one below it."

"Hmm...it should be fixed soon."

"Okay."

"Did you get the documents?"

"Yes sir. I have the papers altogether with me."

"Good." He hung up the phone and she closed her own flip phone, it was replaced in her pocket once more, and she blinked a few times before she giggled. Her giggles turned into laughter, since there was no one in the elevator with her, she didn't have to worry about what other people thought. She took in a few deep breaths to steady herself as the lights flickered once more and the machine continued its ascent. By the time the doors opened, she had composed herself, Kiara exited the elevator, headed for her desk, and took a seat. She looked at the new binders and smiled. Glasses were pushed up her nose and she immediately began her work that was given to her. As she read through the documents, she realized that this was all the information about the contract with Industrial Illusions and Dungeon Dice Monsters. A smile appeared on her pink lips while she worked. Kiara had just finished her work when Kaiba appeared next to her, she stood up, and he stated, "Let's go."

She grabbed her necessary items which was her messenger bag with all of her items in it and the papers needed for the contract signing, and followed Kaiba through the corridor. Once more people moved around him, turned their gaze onto the ground, and genuinely avoided him. Kiara held that same content smile on her face as they entered the elevator, she pushed the lobby button, the doors closed, and she could see the relief on everyone's faces. "Hm..."

"What is it?"

"When I was going through the documents for the meeting, I noticed that the papers about expenses were missing. I know that you would not have misplaced them and I never received anything until this morning."

"Your point?"

"Perhaps someone in the company doesn't want this to go through and therefore removed the expense sheets in hopes that I would leave the all the documents behind so they could sabotage it. Since I took everything with me, they could not get their hands on it, and since my computer has a code lock on it; they couldn't delete the digital files either."

"You think someone in _my_ company is trying to sabotage me?"

Her sapphire eyes locked with his cobalt ones, "It's something to consider." Kaiba 'humphed' at her accusation but didn't say anything else on the matter. Instead, once the elevator reached the lobby, she noticed that he spoke with Roland quietly. The man nodded and disappeared into a crowd of people while the CEO returned to her side. He looked down at her, she held a knowing smile, and he simply grumbled something unintelligible which made her chuckle. Kiara pushed her glasses up on her nose once more and continued towards the exit of the lobby where there was a white limo waiting for them. She paused, "This is not yours."

"It's Pegasus'. He insisted that we do this at his place and therefore sent us his limo."

"I see." The door was held open for them, Kiara climbed in after Kaiba, and once the door shut she opened her bag up. Kiara removed the small bottle, used the straw to press it through the top, and began to drink it. Kaiba looked at her, when she finished, she replaced it into her bag, "It's ginseng. It helps with energy." Then she removed her supplement, she drank the bottle quickly, replaced the empty container into her bag, and waited for the ride to be over.

-::::::-

The castle-esque mansion was awe inspiring, Kiara looked at it while waiting for their host to greet them, she was amazed at such architecture, and Kaiba grumbled something else unintelligible. She looked at him but he kept his gaze off of her and this made her raise an eyebrow at him. _Interesting. I know he doesn't like Mister Pegasus or Mister Devlin but still...this much animosity is unusual, even for him._ Kiara turned to face the door once it was opened by a butler, he bowed to them, she responded, and they were led through the mansion. She made sure to map it out in her head for when something came up and they needed to return to the office quickly. They were seated in a room with a large wooden table and the surrounding walls held paintings of a woman with blond hair and blue eyes, she wore long dresses from the victorian era, and Kiara could not help but be amazed at her natural beauty. It was then that Pegasus and Duke Devlin entered, everyone took their seats respectively, and Kiara produced the tape recorder.

"Always prepared I see Katsuhiko-dear."

She smiled, "It is my job."

"And you are very good at what you do," he replied. She nodded and produced the paperwork for the meeting. Kiara even pulled out a notepad and pen, this time it was requested by Kaiba that she take notes too. Once everyone began to talk about the project, she jotted down the proper notes, they consisted of concerns that Duke had towards his monster creation being as accurate to his original ideas as possible. Pegasus only spoke when it concerned the images of the game and had reassured Duke that they would be what he wanted it. The hours wore on and Pegasus clapped his hands which startled most of everyone present, Kiara looked up at him from over the top of her glasses while Kaiba scowled at him. "Everyone must be famished! I know I am. Let's take a break and eat before we sign the contract. What do you say?"

"Sounds good to me," stated Duke. Kaiba only nodded and Kiara shrugged. She removed everything from the table and replaced it into her bag just as the servants entered the room with their late lunch on porcelain plates. Duke stared at the dish, "What is it?"

"It's a nice filet mignon medium rare with a salad, and steamed vegetables." Pegasus turned to Kaiba, "Everyone's here is the same but the only one I don't have anything for is Katsuhiko-dear as I didn't know she was coming."

Kaiba bluntly stated, "Where I go, she goes especially if this is a meeting."

"Don't fret Mister Pegasus." The others looked at her as she pulled out a bamboo bento box. Once the three layers were separated, it was clear that she prepared her own meals, and it was artistically decorated to be appealing. "I always pack my lunch." She smiled at him and Pegasus chuckled while Duke laughed and Kaiba stared at her food. Kiara looked up at him, "It's wild rice and quinoa with a mixed green salad topped with chia and flax seeds. The main dish is grilled tofu with asparagus." When he continued to stare at her food, she added with a smile, "I get all of my nutrition." He turned to eat his food that was provided for him and this only made Duke look at Pegasus who was grinning.

"Let's eat then," said the creator of Duel Monsters. Kiara kept her eyes on her food while she ate and Pegasus found this fascinating. _She doesn't seem to want to eat in front of anyone or is it just that she's being polite._ As they ate their food, he noticed that she had finished first, and watched while she packed everything away. Nothing was dropped onto his table nor was there any mess on her, she held such grace eating and he couldn't help but smile at it. Once everything was in her bag, she pulled out a bottle of water, she twisted the cap off, produced a straw, and began to drink it slowly. "You don't drink while you eat?"

She looked at him with a smile, "No. It interferes with digestion so I usually drink after I eat. It's just a personal preference, that's all." Pegasus nodded while he watched as she began to pull out the papers once more. "I am sorry to eat this meat in front of you. It must be appalling."

"On the contrary, just because I'm a vegetarian doesn't mean that you should feel obligated to eat what I eat or not eat something you enjoy while in my presence. Please be yourselves, I am not one to push my views onto anyone. Besides, I didn't choose to be vegetarian because of the philosophy behind it, I chose it for various health reasons."

"Oh, what are those? If you don't mind sharing," replied Duke with a little humor tinting his voice.

Kiara stared at him with her sapphire eyes, she removed her glasses, wiped them on her skirt, replaced them on her face, and simply stated, "I have allergies." That humor was still in his voice and it made Kiara's blood boil, to think that someone like him didn't understand the serious consequences of allergies. His next questions still had that humor, as if he found her response funny in some way.

"To what? Meat, fish, poultry?"

Kiara stared hard at Duke Devlin, "Allergies are not something to poke fun at. Some allergies are so severe that it causes asphyxiation which then leads to coma or death without the help of antihistamines."

Pegasus cleared his throat, the gentle Kiara returned to face him, "Does your mother have this too?"

"She does so I prepare all of our meals since she's so busy with work." Kaiba finished his meal, pushed the plate aside, and waited for the others to be finished. It was then that he noticed she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable talking about her family so she directed the conversation elsewhere. "These paintings are very beautiful. The woman depicted in them is quite astounding."

"Thank you. She's my late wife Cecilia."

Kiara knit her brow in concern, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

Pegasus smiled, "That's alright. She was a wonderful woman, strong, opinionated, kind of like you. Don't worry, you don't remind me of my Cecilia, no one can replace her, but you do have some of her qualities, natural beauty being one of them." Kiara chuckled as everything was finished and the plates cleared away. She produced a pen, placed it in front of Kaiba along with the contracts since he was the one tha was going to develop the technology and distribute the game. The secretary stood up from her seat, stood next to Kaiba, and pointed to which areas needed to be signed. Once he finished, she picked up the papers and pen, sauntered to Pegasus' side, and placed them down. She guided him in which places to sign before heading over to Duke, once that was completed, Kiara returned to her seat next to Kaiba, packed up the contracts, and looked at the others.

"Mister Pegasus, Mister Devlin a copy of the contract will be made and faxed to your respective offices in the morning." They both nodded, since the meeting concluded, Kaiba stood up, soon followed by Kiara. She bowed to each male, "Thank you for doing business with Kaiba Corps. We look forward to working with the two of you for future projects should this one go well." Pegasus smiled at her while Duke winked, she turned on her heel, not phased by his flirtatious motives, and followed after Kaiba as they were lead through the mansion once more.

"My my she truly is beautiful," stated Duke.

Pegasus looked at him, "Dukey-boy, I told you to be careful."

"Why? Kaiba's got nothing on her."

"Kaiba is very protective of his possessions."

"She's a person not an object."

"Yes but she's on his payroll therefore she belongs to him. End of story. Watch whose possessions you want to steal because the owner may not take too kindly to burglars." There was humor tinting the creator of Duel Monsters' voice while Duke huffed in annoyance.

-::::::-

The next morning, the documents were faxed to the proper offices, Kiara sat down at her desk, and ruffled the papers. She took in a deep breath, looked down at her hands, and realized that they were shaking. "That's not good," she murmured. The woman shook her hands and began her work for the day, unbeknownst to her, Kaiba had peeked through his door at her, and knew that something was wrong but he returned to his seclusion without saying a word. Kiara finished her assignment, took out her supplement bottle, drank it, and then tossed it into the trash bin under her desk. Immediately she felt dizzy, one hand braced herself on the desk while the other put it against her head, and she closed her eyes. She counted to ten, opened her eyes, and everything was normal once more. "Now that's just bizarre." Kiara shook her head and turned her attention onto the next task.

As the hours wore on, she felt herself losing strength, so she drank a ginseng bottle, and felt revitalized. One more deep breath and Kiara continued on with her work, running around was of no help to her, but she kept her head held high, and her gaze straight onto her task as she was directed around for various errands per Kaiba's request. She sat down in her chair and began the work on the next assignment. She picked up the phone and dialed the proper offices to make appointments for the next few weeks. The phone was placed in its cradle, she jotted down notes for the days of the meetings, and began to type up the itinerary for Kaiba.

She printed a copy and e-mailed it to him, the printed sheet was retrieved from the printer, and she knocked on the door. Kiara opened it and bowed to her employer, "Mister Kaiba I have a copy of the itinerary for the next few weeks. There are three meetings next week and two the following week with dinner reservations and lunch reservations booked." He watched her as she sauntered in, she placed the sheet on his desk, "Here is a hard copy and there is one in your e-mail as well."

Papers were ruffled around on the desk, Seto Kaiba produced a stack of fifty pages, and handed it to her. She took it and looked at him with a smile, "Have these sorted and make a detailed spreadsheet for them." Kiara nodded, bowed to her employer, and left the room as silently as she had come. The door closed gently behind her, he leaned his head into his hand, "She's not herself. Her smiles are genuine but her eyes don't seem to sparkle like usual." He immediately began looking at the local news to see if there was an outbreak of some strange virus going around. The last thing he needed was his perfect secretary coming down with a cold.

Fingers typed away while sapphire eyes focused on the numbers printed on the sheets, the typing only ceased long enough to go to the next page. It was easy for her to sort the invoices but the numbers were all over the place that it was difficult for her follow. "How unusual...I seem not be at the top of my game today," came her mumbling. Still she knew she wasn't feeling too great and she knew that she would need to rectify the situation; quickly. Kiara decided that now was more about accuracy than efficiency and she made sure to check her work as she went to avoid any mistakes. After the data was entered, she checked her work slowly three times before deciding it was perfect. She saved the spreadsheets, put them in a digital folder, and proceeded to e-mail a copy to Kaiba. The hard copies were put in a binder that she labeled and it was placed among its brethren on her desk.

Kiara opened Kaiba's door, "If there is anything else for me?" He shook his head, Kiara bowed to him, "Do not stay too late Mister Kaiba." She left him in his office, Kiara had grabbed her bag, put it over her shoulder, and headed for the elevator. A dizzy spell over came her, she leaned against the wall, and decided to catch her breath. After a few minutes, she heard a click, it was Kaiba's office door, and she pushed herself off the wall. Kiara made it to the elevator, hit the button, and waited for it to arrive on her floor. It wasn't long before Seto Kaiba stood next to her, she didn't say a word to him and he to her. The doors opened, she stepped in at the same time that he did, and she hit the lobby button.

Cobalt irises stared at her, "Your face is unusually pale Katsuhiko."

"I'm feeling a little under the weather. Once I get home I will take care of it."

"Good to know." She moved away from him, "What are you doing?"

"If I do happen to have a cold then I don't want you to catch it."

"The company will function without me for a few days but I can't function without you for a minute." Kiara's attention snapped onto him as the doors opened, he left the elevator, and she followed after him. Still in shock at what he had said, he stepped out of the lobby and into his limo while she paused in front of the security desk. The security at the desk looked at the bewildered secretary.

"Are you alright Miss Katsuhiko?"

She blinked a few times and smiled warmly at him, "I'm fine now. Thank you for your hard work." He returned her smile and told her to have a good night. "You too." Kiara left the lobby and headed for the nearest bus stop. Once there she took a seat, the bus arrived after ten minutes, she got on, and took a seat by the window. It was calming, it wasn't crowded for once, and she could relax her body but she felt feverish. _I'll get rid of this cold tonight. I cannot afford a day off from work and besides Mister Kaiba said that he couldn't fucntion for a minute without me. That must be the highest praise I will ever receive from someone of his character. I'm proud of myself and I can hardly wait to tell mother!_ Kiara was excited at the praise, her adrenaline was rushing through her veins, and for once her worries over her health were forgotten for the rest of the bus ride to her complex.

Once Kiara reached home, she left a note detailing the day's events for her mother, it was clear that they weren't able to see one another that day. So the letters that were left around were enjoyable for both, mother and daughter. She made sure to include everything that was important but leave out the information about contracts and other various items that were company secrets. Once she felt good about it, Kiara headed off to the shower, and then to bed.

-::::::-

The following days were packed with paperwork and contract signings with various companies but Kiara held a smile throughout the entire ordeal. Although she felt more weak than usual, she knew that she had to persevere to accommodate the demanding nature of her employer. She stood in his office with a bewildered expression on her visage. Kaiba sat at his desk looking up at her, she blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. "Your mother can fare a few days without you right?"

"Uh...yes sir. She can."

"Then I need you for a few days to go with me to Okinawa for business. It won't be more than three days so you have to book the flights and hotel rooms."

"Understood sir. When shall we be leaving?"

"Tomorrow night." She nodded to him, bowed, and left the room. He leaned back in his chair once his door was shut and a smirk slid onto his face. "Oh this is going to be interesting. I wonder how she is going to act on the trip." The CEO couldn't help the smirk on his face, the business trip was going to be entertaining for him.

Kiara hung up the phone, e-mailed a copy of everything to Seto Kaiba, and began the other work for the next three days as she needed to leave food for her mother. She was busy getting everything organized that when Kaiba exited his office, she didn't hear him. Instead he leaned against the wall and watched her with his cold eyes. The secretary maneuvered with such grace and speed that it was hard for him to believe that she had such a stubborn attitude and his mind turned to the first day that she had arrived and demanded that he try her out for a day. As he watched her, it was then that he realized that stubborn attitude was what made her perfect and because of her skill at her job, he was able to use her for the next Kaiba World construction; which was going on schedule thanks to her diligent efforts. Kiara stood up and was about to leave her desk when she bumped into Kaiba, she looked up at him, pushed her glasses up, and asked with a smile, "Can I help you with anything sir?"

"Do you need anything for your house while you're away for three days?"

"Just some food and I can prepare everything tonight. My mother won't mind if she eats the same thing for a little while."

"Alright then. Are you finished?"

"I just completed the work you requested of me."

"Grab your things, we're going." She nodded, Kiara grabbed her bag, reached inside, drank the ginseng bottle, and her supplement before following after Kaiba. It was still strange of him to suddenly ask about her life but she was willing to bet that it was only because he wanted things to go smoothly in Okinawa. They entered the elevator, "Where do you shop?"

"Hmm?" Her sapphire eyes twinkled at him from behind those lenses, Kaiba knew that she knew what he meant but it appeared that she wanted to play a little game. "What do you mean, sir?" In actuality, she hadn't known what he meant although she had an idea but to be sure was the best way.

"For food."

"Ah, the farmers market down the street from where I live." Kaiba nodded, pulled out his phone, and sent a text message to someone. Kiara was curious about the current situation so she asked, "Why? Is there someone we are going to meet now?"

"No. Roland will take you to the market and then home."

"I can go myself."

"You would take far too long."

"For three days worth of meals, I'll need more supplies than I can carry."

"Roland will help you." It was clear that she was hinting at something else but he refrained from even offering help to her. _Does she think I'll just __**offer**__ my help to her for free? She's just a secretary and Roland should be enough help for her._ Kiara nodded and looked ahead at the elevator doors, once they opened, she immediately followed him to the lobby, and through the doors. Sapphire eyes watched as he climbed into the limo and she followed shortly after him. The secretary stared at her boss as he mumbled, "It's my limo."

Kiara bit her lip, he looked over at her, and she looked away unable to contain the fit of laughter that wanted to burst forth. Once the door was shut, she let it out, Kaiba stare at her, the sound was musical, genuine, and he immediately became irritated with her. There was a scowl on his face as she removed her glasses to dab at the corners of her eyes.

"Forgive me, Mister Kaiba but that was far too funny. I didn't ask for an explanation but you gave me one that was so juvenile it deserved some laughter." He continued to scowl at her and she only smiled at him as she replaced her glasses. "Don't be like that. It was funny." She looked at the partition that was down and asked, "Mister Roland, it was funny right?"

"I wish not to be involved Miss Katsuhiko."

She grinned, "Such a diplomatic answer." He inclined his head to her as the limo drove off and she returned her gaze to Seto, "I am sorry I laughed at your response. You can cut my pay if you want."

"How do you know I won't fire you?"

"I'm too perfect for you to be rid of me." There was that knowing twinkle in her eyes as he turned away, he brought a hand up to his face to hide the smile there, and he felt delicate fingers on his hand. He turned to look at Kiara, she gently tugged his hand down from his face, "You shouldn't hide your smiles when it's just the two of us. Who am I going to tell that the CEO of Kaiba Corps smiles in private? No one would believe me and I have no intention of telling anyone. It's my secret." She winked at him, to which he openly smirked at her. "Ah, that's better." She smiled at him while leaning forward to give the address of the market to Roland.

Kaiba looked out the opposite window, the smirk was still there, and it seemed that he didn't mind the antics of his secretary. After all he had to agree with her on one thing: she was a perfect secretary. _But what about as a woman? No one is perfect, everyone is flawed in some way. She has allergies, that's a flaw but there's something else too. I wonder what it could be...as a matter of fact, why do I even care? _ There was some silence from his inner thoughts until one broke through the barrier, _Because she reminds me of Kisara._

The market was bustling and Kiara had taken to putting the bag across her shoulder diagonally so that it would rest against her hip. Immediately her eyes scanned the stands and found the one she had looked for. Kiara approached while Kaiba hung back to watch as she picked up the necessary items for her mother's food. Just by looking at the ingredients, he could already tell it was going to be soup of some kind. Kiara dug into her messenger bag, removed a green canvas shopping tote, and handed it to the man behind the stand to pack her items. She was handed her bag back, the money was given to the man, and she received her change. The canvas bag was now in her hand while the money was replaced into her vest pocket across from her cellular phone. At this point, Roland took to following her while Kaiba was left standing at the entrance to await their return.

His phone rang, he picked it up, "Kaiba here." The other person was talking and the CEO hid a smile on his face, "Hello Mokuba. Your day seems to have gone well and college isn't a problem?" More answers followed by laughter on the other end, "I see. No, I'm waiting for my secretary since we're leaving for Okinawa tomorrow night." He listned once more, "Alright. I'll get you tickets to Kaiba World for your date but that's only when I return." He nodded on the phone, "Alright then. I'll see you later Mokuba." He put his phone away just as Kiara reappeared with Roland, he noticed that there were four canvas totes, and he walked beside the pair to the limo. The trunk was opened up, Roland placed two totes into the trunk followed by Kiara's two bags. "Let's go." She nodded while Roland opened the door to the limo, Kaiba climbed in first, followed by Kiara. "How long will it take you to cook?"

She looked at him, "Probably all of tonight but I will be rested and ready in the morning for some final adjustments." He simply nodded to her while the limo drove away and towards the apartment complex where Kiara lived with her mother.


	4. Chapter 4: The Face of Illness

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ it rightfully belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. I only claim ownership of Kiara Katsuhiko and Lily Katsuhiko. The idea of this fanfiction was inspired from the manga _Midnight Secretary_.

**Chapter 4** - The Face of Illness

Sapphire eyes stared at the receptionist, "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry miss but it seems that your rooms were mixed up and the only one that we have available is a single room with two beds. Will that be fine?"

"Yes, it will have to do on such short notice."

The key cards were handed over and the receptionist stated with a smile, "Please enjoy your stay."

Kiara only nodded as she turned around and bumped into Kaiba, she pushed her glasses up. "Here is your card, sir. They made a mistake and only have a single room with two beds." He nodded to her as she gathered up the two bags, one for him and one for her. She followed him into the elevator and stood by as the proper button was hit for their floor. Once there, Kiara continued steps behind her employer, his card was swiped, and she entered shortly after him. She immediately put his bag by his bed, she placed hers by the opposite one, and immediately dug out the papers for their trip. The secretary took a seat at the desk that was in the room, she produced a pen, and began to get things situated for the meeting the following day.

"What are you doing?"

"Preparing."

"Why? The meeting isn't until tomorrow morning around eleven."

The secretary turned around in the chair, she stared at him with her sapphire eyes, and stated, "Eleven fifteen to be exact and I am always prepared ahead of time." She turned back around to her paperwork, Kaiba took a seat on the edge of his bed and watched her. Kiara flipped through papers, organized them, and finally placed them all in a folder. That folder was placed inside the bag she carried around with her to meetings, she stood up, looked at her employer, and asked, "Do you want anything ordered up here?"

"No, I'm fine." She nodded before turning away to unpack her bag, "Do you want anything?" At this she looked over her shoulder, stared at him for a few minutes, and shook her head. "Alright." He laid back on the bed and simply listened to the sounds of his secretary removing her clothes for the next day. "Why was there a mistake?"

"Because the clerks downstairs are incompetent, they simply want to get rid of rooms to make it seem like they are the best hotel in the area."

"Are they?"

"Yes. That's why I booked two rooms with single beds but they ended up assigning said rooms to other guests so we are now stuck with a single room with two beds. Either that or they misheard me on the telephone but that's unlikely since it was repeated back to me. Any other questions I can help with Mister Kaiba?"

"No."

There was some silence until she stood up and stated, "I'm going to take a shower." As she walked past him, he leaned up on his elbows, stared at her, and she paused in her walking. Her dazzling eyes faced him with some humor tinting her voice, "No peeking." Kaiba only stared at her as she entered the bathroom, the door was shut, and he sighed while laying back down on the bed. He resigned to staring up at the ceiling with his cobalt eyes.

"What the hell is her problem?" he asked himself quietly. Instantly he got up, grabbed his laptop, and sat down at the desk. Once it was opened up, he began searching Kaiba Corps database for the security feed on his floor. "She said that someone might be trying to sabotage me..." His cobalt eyes narrowed as he watched the video, slowing down the video from time to time when someone passed by Kiara's desk. "They wouldn't be so stupid as to be caught on the camera." On cue, the camera screen cut to black, so he switched to others, apparently all the cameras on that particular floor were cut to black, as if someone had hacked them. He slammed his hand on the desk, "Dammit. She was right." He didn't hear anything else in the room as Kiara had exited her shower, she was dressed in a pair of plaid pajamas that consisted of a tank top and pants. Her hair was braided and pulled over one shoulder, she had heard him, and a smile crossed her lips, the glasses were on her face once more. She quietly approached him from behind, placed her hands on his shoulders, and began to massage them as she had done at the charity ball. "You're out already?"

"Yes. I heard you slam your fist on the desk so I can only surmise that the security feed is no good." He growled at her but let it go as she worked her magical fingers on his tight muscles. "You should take a shower, it'll help you cool down sir." Kiara relinquished her hands on his shoulders, she moved to pull the covers back on both beds, and when Kaiba stood from the chair, he stared at her clothes. She caught him staring and stated, "It's all I have to sleep in." He shook his head with a faint smile on his face while grabbing hs own sleeping clothes, and heading to the bathroom for a much needed shower. Kiara grinned at his departure, she took a seat at the desk, and immediately began clicking on the keyboard, her fingers flew over it as her eyes watched the cameras. She paused on one frame, it showed a hand covering up the camera, but there was a partial fingerprint showing, so she took a screen shot of it, and opened up Kaiba's e-mail. She sent it to Roland with nothing in the subject line or the body of the message, just the picture of the finger print.

"I see you took the liberty of using my computer."

His voice held a lot of menace but she simply smiled as she stood up from the chair, "I found something useful and thought I could help out."

"That's _my_ _personal _computer. Did you snoop on here too?"

This time Kiara's brow dipped in anger, "No. I would never invade the privacy of any one let alone my employer." He glared at her, "I was simply trying to make your life a little less hectic and finding a partial finger print on the video is helpful. So I took a screen capture and sent it to Roland using your account since it was already available." Once more her voice held a tinge of anger but Kaiba's eyes held more hostility. Kiara pulled her braid over her shoulder, she clasped her hands together, and she bowed deeply to him. "I am sorry for intruding on your computer." With that she entered the bathroom with her toothbrush and tooth paste, she brushed her teeth, and exited; not even looking at Kaiba. He was still angry with her, she shut off the lamp on her side of the bed but the lights remained on, she removed her glasses put them on the end table, and set up her phone as an alarm. Kiara pulled the covers over her body, flipped away from him, and closed her eyes so that she could get some sleep.

"You know it's only eight in the evening."

"I'm not talking to you until tomorrow, sir."

"You're childish aren't you." There was silence, Kaiba could feel a twitch forming on the corner of his eye at her stubbornness. "So is this how you act around you mother?" More silence, "Why aren't you replying to me?" Still more silence, Kaiba ground his teeth together, stalked to her bed, and yanked the covers off. She flipped over away from him, pulled the covers back on her body, and continued to ignore him. "You're treading on dangerous territory Katsuhiko." He yanked the covers off of her again, this time he made sure to toss them on the floor, and Kiara sat up, grabbed her glasses, put them on, and removed herself from the bed. Kiara grabbed some clothes, entered the bathroom, and changed quickly, her hair remained in the long braid, and she returned to grab her phone as well as her messenger bag. "Where are you going?"

Kiara slipped the key card into her bag along with her phone, she looked at him, and stated flatly, "To the lobby for some coffee." With that she left the room, Kaiba openly sighed, flopped onto the bed, and stared up at the ceiling once more before cursing under his breath and hastily getting dressed. Meanwhile, Kiara sat at a small table in the lobby, she had a latte in front of her, the art on it made her smile, it was in the shape of two fish. She snapped a picture of it, typed something quickly, and sent it to her mother since she knew that this type of thing was nice to look at and her mother always enjoyed latte art. Kiara reached over to the sugar, she looked at the box, and noticed that there was no regular table sugar, just artificial ones. When she asked about it, the waitress gave her some packets and she thanked the woman. Kiara opened two of them up, carefully poured them into the cup, and let it sit for a bit before lifting the cup to her lips. After a tentative sip, she brought the cup down to see her employer sitting across from her, "Do you need me to document anything for you sir?"

"No."

"Do you want something?" He grumbled under his breath while leaning back and watching her, she quirked an eyebrow at him which made him look away, when the waitress returned, Kiara looked up at her with a warm smile. "He'd like the same as me. Could you put something nice on it too?" The woman nodded enthusiastically while heading off to get another special cup of coffee. Her sapphire eyes locked with his cobalt ones, "Well?"

"I don't like to be in that hotel room by myself. It's boring."

She chuckled, "You could always play hide and seek alone. The gift shop sells dolls and some thread I'm sure." He stared at her, she looked up at him over the rim of her coffee cup, and he could clearly see a smile on her face. When it was set down, the waitress had brought his cup over, the art on it was two hearts. "How pretty." Kiara snapped a picture and sent it to her mother as well, she brought up her own and showed it to Kaiba, "I had two fish." He only grumbled something else before adding sugar to his cup and stirring it. "You should appreciate it more, they work hard to make that art." Kaiba only rubbed a hand across his face in frustration but didn't say anything as he sipped the coffee. He stared at it, "What?"

"Yours is better," he muttered. Kiara laughed while he looked at her and grumbled something unintelligible which only made her laugh even more. "You're not angry any more?"

Kiara sighed, took another sip of coffee and replied, "I am still mad at you but I suppose that I should have asked permission instead of taking the liberty for myself to use your computer. For that I am sorry but I am not sorry that I helped you try to catch the culprit." He stared at her as she leaned forward, "That partial finger print can be ran through many databases to find out who it belongs too, the first thing they did wrong was trying to sabotage you, the second mistake they made was thinking they could get away with it."

"What would you have done?"

"Wear gloves for a start?" Kaiba stared at her, he immediately pulled up his hand to hide the smirk on his face, she knew it was there, and only took a sip of her coffee. Kiara received some mail so she pulled out her phone, looked it over, and typed something back. "Is that your mother?" She shook her head, "Roland?"

"Yes."

"Did he find out who the print is from?"

"Not yet because he can't access the proper database so I sent him some information about someone in the intelligence of the police force. There's someone there who owes me a favor for something so this should make us even."

"What did you do for them?"

She looked at him over the rims of her glasses, "I kept his son out of trouble, arranged some classes for him, and managed to get him to graduate college with a decent degree and a job lined up for him."

"That's a lot for someone."

"He's a friend of my mother's so I had to help since she asked me." Kaiba nodded and sipped at his coffee as she finished her message to Roland with instructions. Kiara also sipped at her coffee, she picked up the menu, glanced it over, and looked over at Kaiba. "Do you want anything? This time it's my treat." Kiara handed the menu over and when Kaiba returned it to her she waved the waitress over, "Well have one cheese danish and a cinnamon bun." She nodded and left while Kiara pushed the menu aside. "So, why come down here? It can't be because you were lonely up there." He leaned back and averted his gaze from her, she shook her head as the waitress returned. "Thank you."

The woman leaned over and whispered, "My husband is the same way sometimes. They get into their little moods when you try to help them but don't worry. It'll pass and you two will make up." She winked at Kiara, who only stared at her in shock, unable to say anything. "Don't worry, things will work out, they always do." Still Kiara couldn't say anything as the woman walked away, she was hesitant to look at Kaiba since she knew he had heard everything.

Sapphire eyes stared into those cobalt irises and he leaned forward. Her employer whispered, "Seems that you treat me like a husband rather than an employer."

When she met him to the middle of the table she replied quietly, "Seems that you treat me like a wife rather than a secretary." At this she only raised an eyebrow at him which made him lean away from her and start to eat his danish. Kiara chuckled, ate her cinnamon roll, and they finished their coffee. Kiara asked for the check, she took it to the cash register where the waitress met her there. Kaiba watched as they talked together, she paid, and watched as the woman was shocked at the tip, and he could only think that it was because she had been in those shoes. Kiara thanked the woman, and returned to Kaiba, "Shall we leave now sir?" He nodded and followed her back into the elevator.

"You have to brush your teeth again."

"It's alright." There was some silence, glad that it was only the two of them in the elevator, "Wait...why do you care?" She eyed him from the corner of her eye as he only shrugged. "You are the strangest employer I have ever worked for." She stepped out onto their floor but was stopped abruptly by Kaiba's fingers on her elbow. When she looked at him, he shook his head, and they entered the hotel room together. Kiara quickly changed into her sleep clothes and brushed her teeth once more, this time she had to pick up her blankets while Kaiba simply slid under his own. He watched as she picked the sheets up, fluffed them out, and laid the blanket on top before climbing in the bed. She flipped the lamp off and said, "Sleep well, Mister Kaiba." He grumbled while she turned away from him with her glasses and phone on the night stand.

-::::::-

Seto Kaiba and Kiara Katsuhiko were sitting at the table waiting for the business partners to arrive, her employer was already agitated with how late they were running, and she was feeling slightly light-headed but she was calm. Kiara had dressed in a long sleeve white blouse with a dark blue vest and matching knee-length pencil skirt and dark shoes. While she glanced at her employer, he had actually taken some advice from her that morning, he was wearing a simple suit without a tie, and a few buttons undone from his dress shirt. He began to drum his fingers on the table, they were ceased as she placed her hand on top of his, he glanced at her, she gave him a warm smile, and when she removed her hand from his, his fingers had stopped drumming. Instead, Kiara pulled out her phone, dialed the number of the secretary, and waited for her to pick up.

"Yes, this is Kiara Katsuhiko calling from Kaiba Corps," came Kiara's sweet voice. Though it made Kaiba stare at her as her sweet voice soon became laced with dangerous venom. This side he never saw as he never heard her on the phones with anyone before so Seto began to take an interest in the conversation. "Uh-huh, so you thought it wasn't prudent to contact those who have the contract ready and inform us that you would be held up due to some _unforeseen _circumstance." There was some more chatter but Kiara cut her off, "I understand that by showing us such disrespect that your employer does not wish to go into a contract with Kaiba Corps. Perhaps Kaiba Corps is no longer interested in the contract that TechnoGraph has to offer. We have been waiting for over fifteen minutes with no word on your arrival so now we are the ones who are departing." Kiara listened to the other woman, the secretary gave a low chuckle, "It doesn't matter what TechnoGraph thinks any longer, this is Okinawa and I know that Cyber Tronics has been eagerly awaiting the response from Kaiba Corps for the same contract. We will be visiting their office now." As the woman was going to say more, Kiara simply cut her off again, "There is nothing else to be said. Kaiba Corps will no longer be doing business with TechnoGraph and will not be considered for any future projects." She hung up the phone and looked at Kaiba, "Come sir, I shall make an appointment with Cyber Tronics." He only nodded as she dialed their number from her memory and began to talk with their executive secretary to set up a time for their meeting.

Hours had passed before Kaiba was able to relax in the hotel room, he watched as Kiara immediately took the desk to begin the organizing of the paperwork, "How did you know about Cyber Tronics?"

"It's my duty as a secretary to have all options available."

"Did you get the real reason for why they were late?"

"She had misscheduled the appointment and attempted to cover it up by saying there was traffic. But I had already looked into the traffic report for all possible ways to arrive at the restaurant. None of them were full of traffic especially at this time of year." Kaiba smiled at her as she worked, since her back was to him, he wouldn't have to worry about her poking fun at him about his smiles. "So I saw fit to teach her a lesson and perhaps she'll learn from this. If a company's secretary is that lax in her job then what does that say about the company?"

"So an executive secretary is the face of a company?"

"To an extent yes. It shows the values the company holds, Kaiba Corps is known as a proficient, excellent company to be partners with. TechnoGraph...well..not so much any more. But Cyber Tronics has had a perfect partnership history with other clients, I looked into them on the way to their office."

"So that's what you were doing on your phone the entire time."

"Yes sir."

"Everything in order?"

"For now." She packed everything away, the file was placed into her bag, and she as she turned away from it, a dizzy spell over came her. It caused her to stumble but Kaiba leaned off the bed to catch her, and Kiara's breath was shallow. "I'm sorry sir. I seem to be a little dizzy."

"You didn't take your supplement." She shrugged her shoulders as he helped her onto his bed, he went over to her bag, retrieved the two bottles, and handed them to her. She nodded, opened both of them, and drank them quickly. "Anything else you need?" She shook her head and he immediately dialed the room service just to get some food up there. He growled since he had to wait a few seconds but when the person picked up he asked them if they had any vegetarian food, when they told him no, he simply slammed the phone into the cradle. He heard her laughter, he glanced over his shoulder at her, "What?"

"A place like this won't have any vegetarian food." She pointed to the small refrigerator in the room, he made his way over there, opened it up, and noticed she had various Tupperware containers filled with vegetarian food. "It won't help any way. I think I'm catching a cold." She adjusted her sitting position, Kaiba randomly picked a container, handed it to her, and dialed the room service once more for himself. "Thank you sir." He ignored her as she opened up the Tupperware to see what it was, and smiled. It was something easy for her to eat, so she waited for his ordered food to arrive, when it did, she snatched the spoon from his dish. He looked at her, "You won't need it." Kiara started to eat her grains slowly so that she wouldn't choke on them.

"We have two days left here. You better not get sick."

"I won't."

"Good." They ate in silence after that, she finished her food, placed the container in her bag, retrieved another one from the fridge, and began to eat that as well. Once she had finished, it was also placed in her bag, she put the spoon on his empty tray, and grabbed her sleep clothes. Kaiba watched her enter the bathroom, when the door closed, he laid back on his bed. They had eaten a meal together on his bed in silence, and he found it enjoyable. "She's just a secretary and yet...this is irritating."

-::::::-

The next two days progressed quickly, Kaiba found it refreshing to be back in his office, the comforting silence was familiar to him. His days were even more busy as he had to get tickets to Kaiba World for Mokuba and his date. He sighed, ran a hand across his face, and looked at his computer screen. The person who had tried to sabotage the contract with Industrial Illusions was Duke Devlin and he had a feeling that man was just trying to irritate him or get close to Kiara. "Like hell I'll let him do that! She's my secretary."

Kiara was typing away, bringing up a hand to cough now and then, her illness was getting worse, and she knew that she was going to have to call off for a few days to remedy it but until then she was working as usual. Someone had cleared their throat, she looked up to see a young man with short black hair, but she knew those eyes. Kiara stood up, bowed to him and stated with a warm smile, "Hello Mister Kaiba. I am Kiara Katsuhiko, your brother's personal secretary. Your brother is busy in his office but perhaps I can help?"

He smiled at her, "Yes. He left some Kaiba World tickets for me."

She nodded, picked up an envelope from the desk, and handed it to him, "Here you are, sir."

"Uh..just call me Mokuba. I'm not really part of this company."

"You work behind the scenes, I understand." She winked at him and this made him smile as he tucked the tickets away for safe keeping. Kiara took a seat at her desk and began to work once more as the younger Kaiba turned away. "It was nice to meet you Mokuba."

He looked at her and grinned, "Nice to meet you too Kiara!" She nodded and returned to her work with a smile on her face while Mokuba walked down the hallway, whistling.

When he was out of ear shot, she coughed violently, cleared her throat, and opened up a bottle of water. She drank it slowly, not wanting to waste it, but she could feel herself getting warm, and the woman wanted to run her hands through her hair. "So frustrating," she murmured. Kiara could feel herself getting aggravated with everything which did not bode well for any one around her, especially those that wanted to cross her. She still wore a warm, friendly smile to everyone, but beneath that surface was an angry beast wanting to break free. "I dislike it when I get ill but how did this happen?" Her thoughts ran through everything that she had eaten, every where she had been, and she finally decided that it was simply because she was over working herself. "That has to be it but I've done nothing unusual from other companies."

The door opened up, "Come on Katsuhiko." Kiara grabbed her things while Seto waited for her, once everything was in order, she got up, shut off the computer, and followed him down the hall. Once inside the elevator, he furtively glanced at her, and noticed that she was gripping her bag strap hard. Her knuckles had turned white and he also noticed that she was leaning more towards him, as if to get away from the others in the elevator. He leaned over and whispered quietly, "Something wrong?" The only response he received in return was a glance at him before those sapphire eyes faced the steel doors. He leaned away from her, the doors opened up, everyone filed out, and he watched as she was the last one out. Once in the open, she took in a deep breath, steadied herself, and let it out. Kaiba waited for her to catch up before asking, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sick. I have a mild fever but when I fall ill I become rather short-tempered."

"Are you violent like this?"

She shrugged, "Sometimes, depends on the situation. Why?"

"Perhaps you'll come in handy today more than I thought." She only quirked an eyebrow at him as they entered his limo. Kiara relaxed against the seat, she removed her glasses, rubbed between her eyes, and replaced them. Her employer had seen her movements but she didn't care, instead she took to looking out the window, she turned to him, about to say something, but she was stopped by him. "We're going to see Duke Devlin." She gave an exasperated sigh, "I don't want to see him either but there's a reason behind it." She nodded and the ride continued in silence with her keeping her coughing to a minimum and staying as far away from him as possible. Once at the residence of Duke Devlin, Kiara followed her employer until they met with Duke, and Kaiba stared at him, "Why did you try to sabotage our contract?"

Pegasus had been there as well, he paused in sipping his tea, the cup was put down, and he stood. "Duke is this true?"

"Yeah why?"

"Why did you do it?" asked Pegasus.

The male with green hair looked at everyone present and replied while settling his eyes on Kiara, "I wanted to see how capable of a secretary she really was. I see now that she's both beautiful and capable. Perhaps you'd like to work for me instead? The pay is a lot better and the environment more lax so you would have a lot of free time to be with your mother."

Before any one could say anything, Kiara stomped her feet as she approached him, "You have no right looking into my life. You think that you can _buy_ me? I am employed at Kaiba Corps and I am Mister Kaiba's executive secretary-"

"He doesn't treat you like a woman."

"I'm a _secretary_. That's my job."

"But you're still a woman and don't deserve to work for someone as arrogant as him. Come work for me, I'll make worth your while."

Kiara glared at him through her glasses as he winked at her, she shifted her bag so that the strap was now sitting diagonal on her body. She stepped closer to him and stated venomously, "How _dare _you talk about my employer like that when you are in a contract with the company." Before Duke could say anything else, she clenched her hands around the strap of her bag, and launched her left leg at his abdomen. The bottom of her shoe connected with hit, it made a solid sound, and he exhaled before falling over. "You are bound in a contract with Kaiba Corps for Dungeon Dice Monsters to be created holographically as well as mass-produced. I suggest that if you want to keep that contract intact then don't do something so stupid again. And I _will not_ leave Kaiba Corps nor Mister Kaiba's side no matter how much you offer." Before she could say anything else, she put a hand on her head as a massive dizzy spell over came her, Kaiba was already behind her, and he caught her as she fell backwards. Her sapphire eyes looked up at him and she replied, "I am sorry, sir." Kiara regained her balance, excused herself, and returned to wait in the limo while relaying everything to Roland.

Seto watched her go and looked at Duke, "Normally I would have fired her for something like this but I think she got the point across even with a little violence." He smirked at Duke while Pegasus only sighed, "Don't worry. The contract is still valid but remember," his voice gained malice, "do anything like this again and I'll make sure that your game _never_ gets to be alongside Duel Monsters." Kaiba left the pair while Pegasus only grinned and looked down at Duke with an 'I told you so' smile.

When Seto entered the limo, he looked at Kiara who was leaning against the door inside, she was sleeping, and he looked at Roland who stated, "She told me everything. She said that she apologizes for her rash behavior but she couldn't help herself since he insulted you and tried to buy her out like she was some piece of property. Also, I'm taking her home now, she needs some rest as her fever has increased." Kaiba nodded as Roland drove to her apartment complex, Kiara awoke the moment that the limo stopped, she was groggy, she rubbed her eyes, and her irises looked at Kaiba. Roland stated, "Here we are Miss Katsuhiko. Please get some rest."

"Thank you, Mister Roland." She gathered her items, Kaiba exited the limo, and she followed after him, "Send me what you can through e-mails. I will do the rest from home."

"Don't worry about it." She nodded, bowed to him, and thanked Roland before heading into her complex. Kaiba had rolled down the window to watch her enter, once she was out of sight, the window rolled back up. "Roland," the man with the sun glasses looked in the rear view mirror to stare at his employer, "have her call you when she's ready to come back." He nodded and it was left at that as they headed back to the office. He rubbed his face with his hand, _Kisara and Kiara...how is it that both can be so strong and selfless. She was working hard...harder than any secretary before her._ He sighed angrily, _Why do they have to be so similar?! Why did I have to see all that hocus pocus?! Damn Yugi and his geek squad, all they've done is make my life miserable._

-::::::-

Days had passed, Kiara was still sick, she wouldn't leave her bed, and she only had a few hallucinations and memories of her mother making the food. Kiara got up out of bed, happy to be able to walk again, and decided to have some tea. She entered the kitchen, looked at the cup and the pot on the table, and smiled. She took picked up the cup, inhaled the scent of rosehip, and took a small sip. Glad that it was warm and not scalding but she glanced around the room to see if there was a note or anything that her mother had left her. She found it tacked onto the refrigerator, Kiara made her way to the note, she glanced at it briefly, it stated that her mother was eating at the café, and that she was still picking up some extra shifts. The woman sighed, pulled the braid across her shoulder, and sipped at the tea. Before she could do anything else, there was knock on her door.

Perplexed by the sudden intrusion, she went to her room, pulled on a robe over her pajamas, and the braid laid against her chest. She held the cup of tea in her hand, the knock was heard once more, and she opened up the door. Standing on her door step was the younger Kaiba brother with a blond-haired woman that she did not recognize, "Um...come in. This is a surprise Mokuba."

As they entered, the other woman bowed to Kiara, who returned it while the blond woman introduced herself. "I'm Rebecca Hawkins. Mokuba told me that you were the one who held the tickets to Kaiba World for us." Kiara nodded as the front door closed behind the couple, the secretary motioned for them to have a seat and some tea. Rebecca sat down and smiled at her, "We heard that you were sick so we thought we'd stop by and see how you were doing. And I also wanted to say thank you."

"No need to thank me. I always do what Mister Kaiba asks of me," replied Kiara with a smile. She poured tea for the two and looked at them, "Don't worry. I'm doing better now. At least I'm able to get out of bed."

"Have you gone to the hospital?" asked Rebecca.

"No, I have no need. I know that it's a virus and since nothing will help a virus except bed rest then that's what I did."

"Oh. I see. It's not because you can't afford it right? I mean, I'll pay for you."

Kiara patted her shoulder, "No need for that Miss Hawkins."

"Please call me Rebecca."

Kiara nodded, "Alright then. But, other than thanking me, why are you two here?"

This time it was Mokuba who spoke, "Well..you see my brother's been a little frazzled without you these past few days. We were hoping that you could help him."

"How? I cannot go out like this, it will make my condition worse. But I told him to send me things through e-mail and there's nothing."

"I see," replied Mokuba with a sigh. "He'll never admit that he needs help sometimes and you've been there for many months now so he's gotten used to you. I hate to say it but I think he really needs you, Kiara."

At this the secretary smiled at the younger Kaiba brother and his girlfriend, "I understand your brother's dilemma but there is simply nothing that I can do without him sending me any information."

Mokuba gave a devilish grin, "I'm glad that's cleared up because I have something that will help you."

"Oh?" It was then that she noticed the glint in both of their eyes. Mokuba produced a black laptop with the charging cable. She stared at it, her eyes went wide, "That's Mister Kaiba's laptop!" Mokuba nodded and she shook her head, "No, you must return it."

"Why? Without this he can't do anything but I brought it to you since you can clear up his agenda," stated Mokuba.

Kiara sighed, "Mokuba I cannot do this. Mister Kaiba needs his laptop and if he refuses to acknowledge that he needs my help then so be it. There is nothing more that I can do and by stealing his computer you're going to get me in trouble." Mokuba shrugged while Rebecca still tried to plead with her. Kiara eventually sighed, "Let me get my glasses but you two better hope that he doesn't show up on my doorstep." They nodded as she left to retrieve her glasses, when she returned and they were on her face she looked at them and asked, "What?"

"I didn't know someone could look pretty with or without glasses," replied Rebecca. Kiara gave a weak smile before setting up the computer, Mokuba and Rebecca crowded around her, "Everything's on the desktop. His itinerary is all messed up. Do you need a phone?" Kiara nodded and pointed to her cellular phone on the counter. The blond woman retrieved it and handed it to Kiara while she typed away, "Here you are."

"Thank you Rebecca. Now you're going to see my skills. Even if I am ill now, I've still got my game on since I'm comfortably at home." The two laughed while Rebecca went to make more tea, "Thank you Rebecca."

"Oh no problem Kiara. I want to help too." The secretary smiled as she made tea, when it was finished, she turned around to see that she was already calling and e-mailing the meetings to be set up and the appointments. "Wow, you really are good."

Mokuba nodded and added, "But how are you going to make reservations at this restaurant that they requested?"

Kiara smiled, "You have so much to learn Mokuba. The trick is to have friends in many places, especially make those friends in high places."

"Oh yeah, I remember Seto telling me about the time in Okinawa with the finger print," added the younger brother.

"Yes and as it so happens, I know the owner of this restaurant. I worked for him for while I was in college and he loved me like his own daughter so I know that he'll help me." Rebecca and Mokuba stared at one another with awe as they watched her speak on the phone with such courtesy and make the proper reservations. Once it was completed, she looked over everything, "Alright. I think we're done here."

"How did you do all that in an hour?" asked Rebecca.

Kiara smiled, "This is my job. It's what I do." The two laughed as she sipped her tea, but there was a knock on her door. Kiara was about to get up but Mokuba said that he would get it for her, the secretary nodded while removing herself from the table and the computer. Kiara was facing the tea-pot, she had retrieved a few more cups for her guests. When there was a yelp of surprise from Mokuba, she smiled, poured a fourth cup of tea, placed everything on the tray, and turned around to see Kaiba standing there with an angry face. "Come in and have a seat Mister Kaiba."

"What are you doing with my brother and my computer?"

"They brought it so that I could help you. I was informed that you need help and they took it upon themselves to come to my home to bring you that help. It's not my fault that you didn't e-mail me anything." He grumbled as he sat down and grabbed his computer, he stared at it, "I arranged your schedule this week and next. The reservations are under your name at all the restaurants requested by the clients." She placed a cup of tea in front of him, he looked up at her, and she wore that warm smile before turning away and coughing violently into her robe. When Rebecca went to her side, she waved her had to show that she was fine, "I'm fine. I just need some tea." Kiara retrieved her cup of rose hip tea, inhaled the scent, and sipped it. "Go on. It's fine, I'm not contagious and I truly am sorry for kicking Mister Devlin."

Mokuba wanted to ask more on it but Kaiba spoke up, "Don't worry about it. He had it coming." Kaiba packed up his laptop and looked at Mokuba and Rebecca, "Next time don't touch my computer. Let's go." The pair nodded and followed him out while Kiara watched them go, she smiled at the couple, waved, and sighed as the door shut.

"Now I should rest more."


End file.
